Quiltbeagle

I also prewash but don't bother to iron until ready to cut. If it's taken out of a hot dryer and folded right away the fabric seems to flatten itself nice enough for storage.

Minnisewta

I wash all my fabric as soon as I get it home. I also enjoy ironing the fabric and if it's a batik it's even better. I don't iron them until I am ready to it and I love the smell of the spray starch so I use that too. Don't ask me to iron your shirt because that is work.

Robinmg

Same thing I do.

gypsylady5

Why do you do that to yourself? Fabrics are pre-treated for colorfastness and shrinkage, so why do you spend all your time washing and ironing fabrics? I've never understood that need. If I had to do that, I wouldn't be quilting!

grammysharon

I am with you, I prewash and press my fabrics before I put them away. When I use them just need a light iron to smooth folds and am ready to go!! I don't want any more shrinkage after making the quilt. I wash batting in the bathtub and dry in the dryer. :lol: :wink: :lol:

Buckeye Rose

They may say colorfast and won't shrink.....but with 100% cottons, you might get some bleeding and shrinkage. I don't usually have issues with lighter colored fabrics, but the darker ones such as reds and blues are notorious for bleeding. Batiks are the same way. I found red fleece blankets on clearance just after Christmas one year and didn't prewash, just used them to back lapquilts. When I washed after finishing the quilt construction, I found out that the red fleece ran like crazy and the white squares in the quilt top were now pink! So now I always wash reds, darks and batiks.

The fabrics are also manufactured with lots of chemicals like formaldehyde and insecticides. Who wants that next to your skin while piecing the top? And I always wash quilt when finished to get any remaining chemicals out. It also shows me if I have any oops to fix.

Prism99

If it's any comfort, I remember that some quilters tried "mangles" -- maybe a decade or more ago. Most did not like them a whole lot. One of the problems was that it would set wrinkles so well the fabric would have to be washed again to get them out. My guess is it took a *lot* of practice to get the expertise to use a mangle efficiently.

Prism99

If it's any comfort, I remember that some quilters tried "mangles" -- maybe a decade or more ago. Most did not like them a whole lot. One of the problems was that it would set wrinkles so well the fabric would have to be washed again to get them out. My guess is it took a *lot* of practice to get the expertise to use a mangle efficiently.

Oops! So sorry for the double post!!!

bearisgray

Seems to me that dealing with the "disasters" that some people have dealt with when they did NOT wash their fabrics before cutting and sewing them is a whole lot MORE bother than washing them before cutting them.

It probably is true that MOST fabrics are well behaved - in my experience they are. But there are just enough of them that are stinkers to make it worth the effort to me.

I generally prefer to have my projects as simplified as possible. I don't like hassles. Glitches upset me. I feel that washing my fabrics does very much simplify things - in the long run -

Of course, I do miss out on the drama of wondering what changes may befall this project when it hits water for the first time.

And, if there are problems, I do miss out on the excitement of "will this unwanted color come out?" and "why did the seams come apart?" and how to fix the problem(s)

SheriR

I just finished washing about 120ish loads of my MiL's 50 year stash. I used HOT water and hung it in our 107degree Texas sun. It took me over two weeks but it sure looks nice in the cupboards waiting to be made into 29 quilts for MiL's grand children.